A Research Proposal on the Role of the Chief Executive ...

Questions One of the major problems in business is definitely the notion of whether or not companies needs to be concerned with other issues than profitability. Mandsperson Smith in 1863 stated that the process of achieving the general good for the society is usually something that may happen inevitably happen because of his idea of the invisible side of the market. However , more sophisticated ideas assert otherwise because they believed that we now have a number of circumstances that would prevent the invisible hand to work successfully (Mohr and Webb, 2002). The concept of Company Social Responsibility (CSR) is usually deeply rooted on the determination of businesses to continue their very own business in an ethical way.

It is in this respect that companies are thought to necessarily help the overall economic development of one’s country and improving the standard of life of not only their employees and its particular families yet also the society wherever it belonged (Watts and Holme, 1999). One of the central concerns to find the necessity of the implementation of CSR with a particular corporation is the impact of a particular company’s decisions and activities within the contemporary society together with their particular responsibility in the aforementioned.

As a result this means that when ever aligning particular organizational desired goals or jobs, it would be better if organizations will assess first their very own actions and make sure that they are determined by the welfare of the increased good (Parsons, 1954). As a result, the impact of your organization’s decision within the contemporary society is very vital in CSR. It should be highlighted as well that an organization’s responsibility should course more than the financial and legal aspects but also believe the good in the majority. Archie Carroll declared an organization’s social responsibility is something which includes the interplay of 4 important factors.

These are generally economic efficiency, adherence with the law, honest responsibility, great corporate citizenship, and increasing the society’s quality of life (Carrol and Buchholtz, 2003). Nevertheless despite companies’ claim pertaining to CSR implementation, a significant volume of evidence tells that every season, there are numerous companies that are billed for breaking environmental regulations (Kassinis and Panayiotou, 2006, p. 68). Problems The achievements of a company’s CSR as well as the its impact on the company’s image has become viewed with a number of research to be immediately correlated within the role from the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) (PR Reports, 2007).

It is said simply by Kassinis and Panayiotou (2006) that the role of the CEO is very vital since they are those are primarily responsible for the board’s decision-management functions plus the even the magnitude of corporate and business wrongdoing. The interpretation of the CEO in terms of various environmental issues that could have affect all their firms as well as choice of environmental strategies have a significant inference on the overall image and satisfaction of a particular company.

Research such as all those conducted simply by PR Information Wire in 2008 claimed that to belong to Fortune’s World’s Most Admired Corporations, the CEO’s role along with his or her capacity to create a strategy or hire specific experts that can effectively deal with CSR problems, such as finding a competitive Key Communications Officer (CCO, ) is very essential. Companies which in turn belong to Fortune’s annual honours are often evaluated based on their reputation. In respect to PUBLIC RELATIONS News in 2007, it is usually the case that CEOs are the ones who have are organised accountable when it comes to the inability to protect the corporation image in whenever a crisis arises.

Study regarding PR Reports revealed that in out of 950 global business business owners in 14 countries, 68% of the results attributed unethical behavior to the CEO, and 60% cited environmental violations and item recalls towards the CEO too. The effect of the awareness of various stakeholders, regulators, areas and staff has been viewed by Kassinis and Panayiotou (2006) since critical to the welfare in the firm because they are centrally involved with enforcing the laws and also other policies that companies must adhere to. Physique 1: Romance Between CSR and Stakeholders Source: Tokoro (2007) The figure above shows the direct romance of stakeholders to CSR in terms of the restrictions that they can impose, the resource deals that they move and the total value creation of the corporation.

Gap in Research Set up claim around the role of CEOs regarding dealing with issues of CSR and organization reputation, different studies shows that CSR tactics and policies are rather delegated for the shareholders (Kassinis and Panayiotou, 2006, s. 67). It is usually the case that the demands in the shareholders are oftentimes in conflict with the curiosity of customers, suppliers, governments, unions, competitors, neighborhood communities, as well as the general public (Sims, 2003, l. 40).

The table under shows a summary of perceptions of Desk 1: Stakeholders View of Corporate Responsibility Stakeholders Character of Stakeholder Claim Shareholders Participation in distribution of profits, extra stock offerings, assets about liquidation; vote of share; inspection of company catalogs; transfer of stock; political election of board of company directors; and such further rights while have been established in the agreement with the company. Employees Economical, social, and psychological satisfaction in the place of employment. Freedom from arbitrary and capricious behavior on the part of company officials.

Discuss in fringe benefits, flexibility to join union and be involved in collective bargaining, individual liberty in giving up all their services through an employment agreement. Adequate doing work conditions. Buyers Service furnished with the product; specialized data to use the product; ideal warranties; aftermarket to support the product during work with; R&D resulting in product improvement; facilitation of credit.

Collectors Legal percentage of interest payments due and return of principal from your investment. Reliability of agreed assets; relative priority in event of liquidation. Managing and owner prerogatives if certain conditions exist with all the company (such as arrears of interest payments). Governments Taxation (income, home, and so on); adherence to the letter and intent of public insurance plan dealing with certain requirements of good and totally free competition; launch of legal obligations of businesspeople (and business organizations); adherence to antitrust laws and regulations. Local areas Place of effective and healthful environment in the neighborhood.

Participation of company officials in community affairs, dotacion of regular career, fair perform, reasonable percentage of purchases manufactured in the local community, interest in and support of local government, support of social and charity projects. Common people Participation in and contribution to culture as a whole; innovative communications between governmental and business units created for reciprocal understanding; assumption of fair portion of the burden of government and society. Good price to get products and advancement of the state of the art technology that the product line entails.

Source: Sims, 2003, l. 41 For example, consumers expect that the firm should be able to carry out their organization in a liable manner; alternatively, stakeholders expect that their very own investments would be returned. Consist of instances, buyers are looking ahead a return upon what they taken care of, while suppliers look for reliable buyers. The federal government wanted firms to follow legislations, while unions seek benefits for their people. The competition, expected firms to do their very own business within a fair fashion and local neighborhoods wanted the aforementioned to be responsible citizens.

Finally, the general public needs organizations to boost the overall quality of human life, while investors might look at this proposition as utopian (Sims, 2003). The figure below displays the mechanics of stakeholder interactions. Number 2: Benefit Creation Through Dialogue with Stakeholders Origin: Tokoro (2007) As such, it is in this respect which it could be stated that CEOs and a particular company’s responsiveness for the demands of CSR and ultimately creating a good image is usually something wasn’t able to be the sole determining component for a powerful CSR.

Instead, the question of whether CEOs are merely implementing the requirements of the company’s stakeholders, or maybe the CEOs simply attending to customer, suppliers, govt, community and general public demand should also be studied into close consideration. Deficiency As most studies often characteristic the failure or success of a CSR strategy to the CEO, the role and influence of other stakeholders in the corporation are not often viewed as significant variables worth consideration. Only most recent studies are considerably attributing stakeholder roles regarding its marriage to CSR.

Albeit, structured from the researcher’s survey of varied secondary data, there are hardly any robust literatures stating the influence of stakeholders towards the CEO and in the end the latter’s decision approach implement it is CSR system. Purpose The research is vital to be able to not only help the existing research on the role of Entrepreneurs and a successful CSR program; but likewise to further strengthen the claim around the relationship of CSR and a favorable organization image. Moreover, subtle factors that might possess influenced CEO decisions, strategies and policies such as individuals coming from organization stakeholders will be taken into close consideration and in addition, will probably be taken as significant variables pertaining to the research.

Although studies within the direct romantic relationship of company stakeholders and CSR and presented by various studies, the function of the stakeholders in terms of impacting on the CEO in its CSR decisions are seldom considered. As such it truly is with this kind of respect which the research looks for to drastically contribute to the academic studies committed in order to examine such dynamics. For the purpose of this kind of research, the research wanted to find out: What is the role in the CEO regarding promoting the organization Social Responsibility (CSR) applications of their corporation and its relation to building a advantageous image? For the purpose of this analysis, the study will probably be employing both quantitative and qualitative exploration methods.

It is often the case that quantitative research engages the method that is certainly based on assessment of hypotheses. It uses measurement of quantities, and statistical analysis to accomplish its studies. The idea behind quantitative research is often to conclude that a general theory or maybe the prediction of any theory will be confirmed by the use of numbers. The aforementioned normally depends on a research problem or a hypothesis in addition to other hypotheses that are must be tested. The approach of quantitative exploration includes the usage of formal and usually recognized tools (O’brien 1998).

In addition to this, the quantitative traditions of analysis focuses on performing experiments with an underlying expectation that a consensus would be attained. This method generally aims to get to a predictable generalization, and a causal explanation. Quantitative research can make a controlled environment in order to obtain inductive evaluation. The goal of this research custom is to set up a consensus simply by reducing info to numerical indications, consequently finally determining if specific generalizations will be valid or invalid (O’brien 1998). In this research approach it is very relevant that the researcher must maintain steadily its independence in the research subject; and consequently, the research outcome is definitely expected to be not benefit affected (O’brien 1998).

The quantitative strategy also checks cause and effect by using deductive logic. When completed correctly a quantitative study should be able to forecast, and make clear the theory in question (O’brien 1998). On the other hand, the Qualitative research focuses primarily on words and phrases rather than numbers.

The main analysis instrument intended for such a kind of tradition is a process of involvement of the investigator to the people to whom he or she research (Dyamon and Holloway, 2002). In relation with this, the viewpoints from the participants are usually taken into much accounts. The Qualitative research tradition focuses on modest studies where deep explorations are staying conducted in order to provide a detailed and holistic information and explanation of a specific subject matter.

Rather than focusing on a single or two isolated variables, the aforementioned takes into account interconnected activities, activities, beliefs and values of folks, hence taking on a multiple dimension to get study. This tradition of research is as well flexible in this way that certain elements are becoming explored due to not necessarily adhering to a tight method of info gathering. In addition, it captures specific processes where changes in series of situations, behaviors and transformation amongst cultures will be closely taken into consideration.

More importantly, a qualitative research is normally performed in sites that are within a respondent’s natural environment such as colleges, offices, homes, etc . This allowed individuals to be more at ease and be able to express all their ideas widely (Dyamon and Holloway, 2002). Data Gathering The data gathering will incorporate secondary and first data collections. Ghauri, Gronhaug and Kristianslund (1995) highlighted the importance of secondary data collection especially through table or library research.

Supplementary data collection normally comes with data that have been collected by simply another researcher or copy writer. It is often the truth that they are raised from books of new publications, magazines, magazines, newspaper publishers and even reliable websites such as those of exclusive organizations, nongovernment organizations, government organizations and so on. The review of related literature will give you a scholarly perspective about them matter as well as made the researcher aware of both previous and modern-day research on the subject matter.

For the purpose of this study, the author will probably be using scholarly journals and articles, books and publications specifically focusing on the coal and oil industry; and freight sector in the Middle East, most especially Turkey. The scholarly literatures will be primarily taken from EBSCO Host, JSTOR and Questia Media America, an exclusive online library. Intended for the primary info collection intended for quantitative info, the study will probably be conducting surveys among customers, suppliers and general public employing questions of ordinal measurement using Likert scales to get General Electric powered.

Surveys are the process of applying questionnaires with the aim of making an appraisal of the awareness of the subject matter of the research. Surveys are believed advantageous since it could be used to study a huge number of subjects (Ghauri, Gronhaug and Kristianslund, 1995). On the other hand, interviews will probably be conducted between selected GENERAL ELECTRIC shareholders relating to their perception on the position of the CEO and implementation of the company’s CSR.

Info Gathering Strategies and their Reason For the purpose of this research, the researcher will probably be using self-administered questionnaires. Self-administered questionnaires often times offer a higher response rate and are also comparatively cost effective (Ghauri, Gronhaug and Kristianslund, 1995). Foremost of its edge rests on the idea that the process of data gathering could be more personal and also the researcher should be able to clarify specific notions that could be unclear inside the survey type.

However , one particular distinct disadvantage of such a method is the problems of administrating the study to multiple respondents all in one. In addition , the self-administered data gathering could be very time consuming as well. The research will also be conducting an interview to be able to collect the qualitative info necessary for the research.

Interviews are extremely relevant the majority of specially when you get data that may be a rich source of information that research could not offer (Ghauri, Gronhaug and Kristianslund, 1995). With regards to interviewing, several stakeholders from General Electric Corporation will be asked with regards to their perceptions of how GE should be using its CSR, and their awareness on the part of the CEO in terms of successfully implementing the CSR as well as the company’s photo. Questionnaire Style The set of questions design intended for the review will be manufactured in a detailed, exact and logical construction of close-ended concerns.

In addition with this, the questions can also be made in accordance with the research question plus the objectives in the research (Oppenheim, 1992). The questions will probably be formulated applying an ordinal scale increase in close-ended in nature. These kinds of is relevant in order that respondents could only have to encircle or check the designated number of their corresponding responses (Oppenhein, 1992).

Furthermore, close-ended questions are very easy to answer and may enable the researcher create a summated benefit that could be make use of for data analysis. The questions that will be used in the interview will be tailored in this manner that might directly response concerns that are in accordance in the objectives from the study. The questions intended for the investors will be particularly created in a manner high will be an open flow of information and exchange of concepts. The details how consumers, suppliers and public wanted the company to act combined with its guidelines and likely ethical methods will be included in the survey. In this respect, questions will probably be formulated using a closed-ended nature.

Sampling When it comes to this analysis, the investigator will conduct a review based on straightforward random testing (SRS) that may include randomly choosing individuals coming from customers, suppliers and general public. On the other hand, the research will be employing calculated sampling strategies in terms of choosing the stakeholders of General Electric who can engage in the study. Focus on Population In accordance to Ghauri, Gronhaug and Kristianslund (1995) research should cater to a target human population that has every one of the necessary details for the investigation such as sampling elements, testing units, and area of insurance.

For the purpose of this kind of study, the writer is trying to recognize the role of consumers, suppliers and the public. As such, the study will be requesting 120 participants to participate in the survey of which will generally come from customers and suppliers of General Electric plus the general public whom are concerned with General Electric power and its operations. Reliability and Validity The study’s trustworthiness and quality go together as patterns of way of measuring are both determined by the aforementioned (Zikmund, 1994).

Dependability primarily focuses on the internal persistence and the repeatability of the parameters within the study. On the other hand, quality centers for the correctness and appropriateness with the question that a person intends to measure (Ghauri, Gronhaug and Kristianslund, 1995). According to Chisnall (1997), validity is usually considered and established throughout the relationship of the instrument for the content, criterion or build that it efforts to evaluate. A lack of quality can lead to inappropriate conclusion.

To make sure that the instrument that is to be used happen to be reliable and valid, the researcher is going to assure that such is designed based on the objectives from the study, the secondary data and also within the feedback that was given based upon the preliminary study that will be conducted. Research of Data Data information gathered from the online surveys and selection interviews and supplementary data in the other studies found will be used for the analysis that might answer the investigation question. Graphs and comparisons of data to be used as examination tools.

Statistics used depends on the survey results from the questionnaire made by the specialist. Statistical Companies Service Alternatives (SPSS) is likewise used to determine the stand of the respondents regarding a certain question formulated in the study (Griego and Morgan, 2150, p. 2). References Kassinis G. and Panayiotou, A. (2006). Perceptions Matter: CEO Perceptions and Firm Environmental Performance. The Journal of Corporate Nationality, (23), s. 67.

Zikmund, G. T. (1994). Exploring Marketing Research. Dryden.